Out to own today:
What We Do in the Shadows
 | The New Zealand Documentary Board crew were granted protection while filming a vampire coven situated in a Wellington suburb. And by coven: A house share of four dorky ancient bloodsuckers. Our initial guide is Viago (Taika Waititi – also co-writer/director with Clement), a 379-year old, ladling on a thick pseudo-German accent. The documentary team, who the audience don’t see (this isn’t a Michael Moore/Nick Broomfield style film), is there to cover “The Unholy Masquerade” ball, where a secret society of the undead meets only every few years. In the lead up to the event, we get to know (and grow to love) these vamp subjects. What a hilarious mockumentary, from three quarters of the FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS team! (Bret McKenzie must have been busy with MUPPETS MOST WANTED.) [To read more, click here.] |
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
 | “It’s as elusive as human happiness,” Jedidiah (Owen Wilson) Will anyone really mourn the NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM franchise? SECRET OF THE TOMB seals up an ignominious trilogy, aimed at the lowest common denominator, like so much of director Shawn Levy’s work (see also REAL STEEL, THE INTERNSHIP, DATE NIGHT). Ben Stiller is on automatic pilot too, performing as if he’s watching the clock waiting for his shift to end; even with two roles, as his Neanderthal double, La. Is it just me, or does La look a bit like Tom Cruise? (At least he contributed to the marvellous WHILE WE’RE YOUNG this year). [To read more, click here.] |
Black Sea
 | “We live together, or we die together,” Captain Robinson (Jude Law) Wartime gold retrieval has before it: Clint Eastwood caper KELLY’S HEROES ((1970) - from the writer of THE ITALIAN JOB), and the excellent THREE KINGS (1999) – a subversive, coruscating look at the first Gulf War dressed as an exciting action thriller. BLACK SEA falls between those, as neither is it a particularly clever societal commentary, nor does it set the pulse racing as a cinema ride. Second World War archive footage during the credits is meant to offer some future hints, but is tonally out of place; contrast this year’s GODZILLA (where at least the opening atmosphere matches the credits). Bewildering choices are a continual bugbear for a film that reeks of a first-timer writing exercise; odd, given it’s from the brain behind UTOPIA. [To read more, click here.] |
The Signal
 | “Why are you wearing that suit?” Nicolas Eastman (Brenton Thwaites) to Dr Wallace Damon (Laurence Fishburne) How refreshing to have ultra-intelligent protagonists up against the wall. Too frequently movies opt for the less bright at worst, the non-cinema-literate at best, who all should know better; audiences eye-rolling in frustration as the filmmakers play dumb. At only one point in THE SIGNAL did one internally question character logic: Two of the leads go into an extremely creepy basement, at night, in an ostensibly abandoned, dilapidated homestead in the middle of nowhere – but rather than crazy foolhardiness, the investigation had an air of X-FILES curiosity. Probing, thrilling sci-fi is a scarce cinematic quality, regardless of the budget. [To read more, click here.] |
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